Importance Of Elephant In Wildlife Essay

INTRODUCTION

Asian elephants live mostly in forests, although they can travel long distances and through a variety of different habitats. In Sri Lanka, many elephants leave the forests at certain times of the year and often travel to rivers and wetlands. It is during this time that they often move through areas with villages and crops. It is not known exactly what leads them to undertake these journeys, but it is probably linked to a need for food or water. Asian elephants are vegetarians. Because of their large size, they must spend a lot of their time eating and require around 150 kg of fresh forage, and up to 200 litres of water every day.

Loss of habitat (forests and grasslands) is the most serious threat. Elephants rely on the forest for food, water and shelter. Much of Sri Lanka’s forest cover have been cut down to be replaced by villages and

Elephants have been part of our lives for centuries, and the disappearance of this majestic and unique animal means losing a significant part of our religious beliefs and cultural identity.

Elephants are an important part of nature. They are a key species as their existence is linked to many natural processes, and losing them would affect many other life forms. For example, many plants rely on elephants for seed dispersal and germination: elephants eat their seeds and help them disperse and grow in new areas. Elephant dung also provides food for beetles, flies, worms and other insects. In fact, there are some animals that live exclusively on elephant dung; many of these are insects and important pollinators. Elephants also clear paths through dense forests; the paths are then used by other animals and also allow new plants to establish, which increases the diversity of plant life. These are just a few examples. As you can see, if elephants disappear, several other animals and plants would follow suit and many natural processes would be disturbed, affecting us humans as